Rs250 billion into Mauritian infrastructure next 10 years

Over the next 10 years, about Rs250 billion will have to be invested in the expansion and modernisation of public infrastructure.

Of this sum, a significant amount will have to be through Public Private Partnerships (PPP), prompting the need for a strategic approach to infrastructure investment planning.

The PPP Act will be amended through the Economic and Finance Bill 2011 to adapt to the new policy and to today’s realities.

The vision for the future comes from the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Jugnauth, who addressed participants at a one-day workshop on National Infrastructure Investment Plan (NIIP).

Mr Jugnauth also announced the setting up of a national infrastructure planning framework that would propel the development of long-term, medium-term and short-term infrastructure plans.

The objective of the workshop was to introduce to supervising officers in charge of ministries, heads of department and public bodies as well as representatives of development partners the overall framework, guidelines and templates that have been designed to facilitate the planning process required for the drafting of the NIIP.

“We have set for ourselves, as a nation, the goal of counting our GDP in trillions of rupees and achieving a per capita income of $20,000 in the 2020s. And one of the most powerful engines to propel Mauritius on the modern development path, rebalance growth and support the great leap forward on productivity is its physical fabric,” said the finance minister.

The country has the most ambitious infrastructure plan in its history because “we are convinced that reliable and efficient infrastructure will be a key driver of this endeavour”. But he admitted that the focus on expanding and modernising the physical fabric of Mauritius is long overdue.

“Looking back at the Mauritian experience, we find that investment in infrastructure has played a central role in building competitiveness, in supporting economic diversification and growth and in uplifting the quality of life.